Breeders’ Cup Day 1 Recap

The first day of the Breeders’ Cup is in the books, and below is a recap of the Friday card. Click on the name of each Cup winner to view the replay.

The first two races on BC Friday were non-Cup events, starting with an optional claiming route on Pro-Ride, which was captured by Deal Breaker (Bejarano-Mitchell). The winner stalked the pace, and note that runner-up Mr. Hot Stuff was a Triple Crown series also-ran.

Optional claiming sprint in the 2nd, and Mike Mitchell saddled back-to-back winners. Miss McCall wired the field under Tyler Baze.

2nd running of the Breeders’ Cup Marathon also goes to Europe, but defending champ Muhannak did not win. He was 5th behind Man of Iron (Murtagh/O’Brien). 9yo Cloudy’s Knight did everything but win for Homeister/Sheppard…great effort! Better Than Honour was the dam of the winner, and she has also produced Jazil, Rags To Riches, and Casino Drive. Top two rallied from off the pace, and fav Mastery was a clear 3rd. I tabbed the trifecta in my full card analysis.

2nd running of the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Tapitsfly (Albarado/Romans) wore down a game Rose Catherine. The winner was training extremely well and was my 2nd choice. When I say training well, I mean according to professional clockers such as Bruno DeJulio from Today’s Racing Digest. Do not listen to what the connections of each horse are saying. They all state their horses are doing great. By the way, speed dominated this turf race.

Again, I looked to clocker thoughts to separate my leading contenders, and my top She Be Wild (Leparoux/Catalano) ran to her recent works in the Juvenile Fillies. Beautician held off Blind Luck for the place, and Biofuel was an unlucky 4th. Winner stalked the pace at 8.5f on synthetic.

Informed Decision wins the '09 BC Filly & Mare Sprint

Back to the weeds, and Europe captures another with ground saving stalker Midday (Queally/Henry Cecil). Pure Clan and defending champ Forever Together rallied for minor placings in the Filly & Mare Turf. The winner was my best bet on the Friday card, and I gave her out on Steve Bortstein’s Fast Track Radio Show on Fox Sports 1340 New Mexico.

Informed Decision (Leparoux/Sheppard) sat the right prominent throughout trip in the Filly & Mare Sprint, and that made all the difference in a game tally over rallying defending champ Ventura. I singled the latter, and that knocked out my suggested pick six ticket.

Final Cup race on day one, and Careless Jewel could not be rated and set fast fractions before fading to last. Off the pace runners loved the swift pace, and Zenyatta’s stablemate Life Is Sweet (Gomez/Shirreffs) got her turn to shine in the Ladies’ Classic. Mushka rallied for the place, and last year’s show finisher Music Note took up that spot again.

Grade 2 Las Palmas Handicap completed the card, and the grass route went to pace presser Tuscan Evening (Bejarano/Hollendorfer).

As for any bias info, it seemed as though you needed to be within striking range to win on the turf. As for the Pro-Ride, pace made the race, but it did not hurt to have positional speed either.

I’ll post a Saturday Cup preview shortly.

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Image: Newscom